There Are Always Alternatives: Lessons from business leaders who have dealt with crises creatively

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Leadership decision making is about others and not about self. It is about trust and not about power. It is about creating results by generating cultures where people know it is okay to be unique and unlike others, so they freely take off their fronts, express themselves, and do great things. Looking within ourselves and modeling how we think through our own personal and professional ethical code helps shape our teaching and reconfirms what we are teaching in the classroom [ 62 ].

A good understanding and the establishment of a valid communication and decision-making are of such significance to leaders and managers in the creation of clear policies in all their individual organizations and businesses. While leadership is a functional one, meaning that leadership is at the service of collective effectiveness [ 47 - 49 ] communication in the other hand is arguably one of the single most important aspects of organizational management tool. Communication is the primary function of any effective leader in an organization.

In any business operations, valid, effective, and share communication are of great importance to the leaders and manager of every organization. Although organizational leadership has become increasingly complex in both purpose and structure and therefore requires suitable methods of leadership decision systemic styles to address this challenge.

One of these suitable methods centers on effective communication and the provision of good working environment. Communication is one most essential skill that contributes to any successful business. While some of the importance roles of effective leadership in present-day business improvement have been stressed, there is a continuing global debate about the leadership decision making approaches that are most beneficial to maintainable major organizational improvement. Thus, the establishment of appropriate approach, ways of improving communication, and quality of decision making in any organizations must include the following elements by organizational leaders:.

Leadership is all about getting people to work together to make things happen that might not otherwise occur or prevent that which ordinarily would take place. Leaders must cultivate a meaningful relationship in all businesses that requires clear, honest, and reciprocal communication. Leadership position involves motivating others and one way to accomplish this is through a process of sharing information in the system decision making. They must decide on their values and set goals to insure a fruitful decision-making process. Therefore, before making a final decision or taking any course of action, leaders must discover or create a set of alternative courses of action and gather information about each.

Having gathered the information with which to make a decision, they must apply information for each course of action to predict the outcomes of each possible alternative and make a decision for implementation [ 64 ]. Communication is both complex, irreversible it is difficult to take back messages that have been sent , and it involves more than just one person sending a message to another.

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Instead, communication can be seen as the primary defining characteristic of every leader that involves the negotiation of shared interpretations and understanding in the entire organization. Leaders need followers and followers need leaders in order to accomplish the desired goals and outcomes [ 65 - 68 ] in their individual organizations.

The purpose of this study was aimed at understanding the major factors that influence leadership decision making in organizations. It was focused on identifying what makes for efficient leadership decision making in businesses from the perceptions and views of a nationwide study of four hundred past and current business executives, leaders, and managements in the United States. Decision-making is about facing a question, to be the one you want to be or not to be. The research questions were:. How can quality and sound leadership decision making process be improved in major organizational operations?

What factors facilitate the implementation of a successful decision making process among leaders in organization? What are the best processes of uncovering strategies to fend off decision-making errors in any organization? The researcher believed that the answers generated from the above and other related questions that have emerged in the course of this study may provide meaningful and useful insights to organizational leaders and managers in their decision making processes. Organizational decisions are at the heart of leader triumph, and at times there are critical moments when they can be difficult, confounding, and terrifying.

However, the bravest decisions are the safest. The author used the qualitative critical ethnography paradigm in this study to understand the major factors that influence leadership decision making in organizations. This methodology was based on the experiences of the researcher and the selected participants with the aim of identifying what makes for efficient leadership decision making in organizations. Although the design of a particular business program in San Antonio, Texas and the background and experiences of the investigator set the context of this research.

The principal concern in all aspects of this study was to reach some relevant understanding of the major factors that influence sound decision making among leadership and management in businesses as well as to discover an avenue of better solutions to the challenges and complexities associated with decision making in organizations. In this regard, a nationwide data was randomly collected from four hundred past and current business executives, leaders, and managements in some cities and states of the United States.

With this process, the author was able to gather, not only useful, relevant, and meaningful information, but more importantly, the ability to employ a distinct and analytical techniques in his effort of discovering the major factors that influence leadership decision making in organizations. These made interpretation and understanding of the phenomenon in its context and even beyond, more viable [ 70 ]. In this study, the researcher resorted to a critical ethnographic design in this study in order to gain in-depth knowledge and authentic understanding of the issues and problems associated with leadership decision making in businesses.

The author was disposed to discovering a pattern of meaning the natural and cultural setting, was interested in the process rather than outcomes, in the context rather the specific variables, and in discovering rather than confirmation [ 71 ]. The critical ethnographic design was selected in this study because it is seen by many scholars as one of the most effective means of doing comprehensive, systemic, and authentic research. It is also a research method that is located in the practice of both sociologist and anthropologists, and which should be regarded as the product of a cocktail of methodologies that share the assumption that personal engagement with the subject is the key to understanding a particular culture or social setting.

Description resides at the core of ethnography, and however that description is constructed it is the intense meaning of social life from the everyday perspective of groups members that is sought [ 72 ]. The participants were randomly selected from different cities and states in the country. The informed consent agreement form and the purpose of the research study were explained to the participants at the beginning of each interview [ 3 ].

To achieve these objectives, this study was based upon a qualitative method, duplicating the self-designed survey questionnaire developed from the research questions and discussions from the focus group interviews. The quantitative survey data were collected only as a response to the questionnaire and used to support the qualitative data only in the study.

It took about 17 months of intensive fieldwork to be designed and executed and can be characterized as a multi-method, in-depth research [ 77 ]. The data collection include: All selected individuals and each group participated in two separate interviews to avoid responses being filtered only in the single ideas of a particular interviewee. According to Creswell, data analysis employed a concurrent nested model. The qualitative data analysis, which is primarily inductive and recursive process, were analyzed and organized into categories in order to identify themes or patterns as these facilitated a deeper knowledge and understanding of the major factors that influence leadership decision making in businesses.

The questionnaire and final survey revisions were made to support and improve the content and process of the data collections, both incorporated qualitative and survey quantitative items. Thus, the survey quantitative data was systematically organized, analyzed and given a basic descriptive statistical treatment in the study. A follow-up research was conducted by implementing focused interviews of both the selected past and current leaders and managers in different organizations to corroborate the data from the final survey and identify additional variables.

The author allowed the selected participants to serve as a check to the study to ensure immediate validation as to the accuracy and credibility of the narratives in the data. The constant communication between the researcher and the selected participants added to the confidence and validity of the interview transcripts [ 3 ]. The findings are based upon the purpose, objectives, and research questions of this study as well as examined in multiple levels Creswell that include three major sources: Based on the research questions, the interview questions were developed thematically.

The interview questions helped to provide the structure for data gathering and also served as a means for recording information that was used in this study. The key participants were limited to the perceptions, experiences and views of hundred past and current business executives, leaders, and managements from some cities and states in the United States. Among these selected participants, 45 of them are the founder of their organizations. All the eligible participants completed the survey and the demographic questions.

There was no data on either race or ethnicity collected. More information on the demographic of the selected participants is shown below in Table 1. Table 2 shows that majority of the participants used the democratic leadership decision making behavioral style in their businesses. Both men and women tend to use the democratic style when compared to other leadership decision making style.

While some leaders associated themselves with autocratic decision making style, only very few leaders prefer using the delegative decision making style in their organizations. Table 3 shows the minimum score, maximum score, and means for leadership effectiveness level: Overall, the survey completers seemed to have a good opinion of them based on the survey results. Only one of the result items mean scores was below 4. The four lowest scored items according the above survey results seem to relate to each other thematically.

They include the following items: These items together showed that there are several of the outcomes that may result from a decision are regret or satisfaction; both of which may influence leadership decisions in one way positive or the other negative in any organizational structure. In like manner, below are the results of leadership effective items with the four highest scores. These items suggest that the leaders take their roles in organizational decision making seriously in order to achieve their organizational goals and objectives.

In order of vital importance, the following are the major factors the participants in the survey said were both most significant and most frequently relied upon in order to be effective as well as to achieve good decisions in their individual businesses:. The findings indicate support for the factors influencing decision making in the organization.

However, the results above Table 4 really showed how committed and concerned most organizational leaders are in making sure that they make sound decisions in their businesses. For good decisions will always lead to the establishment of good organization. Great leaders always engage in influencing individuals to attain their goals. Individuals are able to contemplate through difficult issues and submit ideas without being swayed by individuals in leadership positions [ 79 ].

For him, every leader must make a choice choosing from among the options , process electing to make the decision independently or involving others , and purpose achieving the desired outcome. The researcher used the Likert-scale values which were as follows: This part of work presents the discussion of results and incorporates related literature in identifying a pattern of meaning in this study. There are four main themes that emerged in this research, namely: The discussion of these themes was meant to enable the organizational leaders to better understand the process of decision making as it affects the employees in their organizations.

The stories and experiences of the focus group were the tools and elements used in order to discover a pattern of meaning and achieve result. In the views of the participants, most of them commented on the need to consider the complexities and unpredictability that are associated with decision making in organizations.

Evidently, the roles of the participants could be seen in most of what some of them shared with the researcher. For instance, one of the Participants stated that:. Leaders make decisions based on data, experience and influence. In my 22 years leadership experience, I do sincerely think that creative leaders must be willing to listen to their subordinates in order to make the best decision …. For me, valid communication is always the key to success. In the present challenging world, the leadership decision making process can be complicated and overwhelming in almost all businesses.

As a result, it is valuable for organizational leaders to be educated in technology, cultural diversity, ethical standards to enable them learn the best model to follow, that may be applied to everyday decisions, as well as life changing choices in their individual businesses. Leadership needs to be looked at as an exercise rather than as a role. Most of them also agree to the usefulness of the Lewin leadership approaches namely: They all agree that leadership and management activities in organizations involve change, inspiration, motivation, influence, management and effective leadership.

They also, suggested that both leaders and managers must strive to focus on the process of setting and achieving the goals of their businesses through the functions of management, sharing of valid information among groups, and maintaining a positive status quo with the aim of accomplishing a goal. In that regard, one of the participants said:. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.

Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a brave decision. The struggle in life is the choice … and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Furthermore, some of them think only about their positional power and not what they can achieve by working as a team with their subordinates. They impose their power authority on their subjects while dictating to them what to do in the organization without involving them in any decision making. This study argues that group dynamics and participative leadership behavioral style in decision making is of vital relevance and significance in any organizational decision making.

Most employees are more comfortable when included or allowed to participate in the organization decisions. It allows creative and more experienced workers to contribute their rich ideas and valuable knowledge … to the decision making process. While decision making is at the root of all we do, it is useful for leaders and manager to develop effective decision making skills and strategies in their organizations. Problem solving strategies include, but are not limited to brain storming, cost benefit analysis, written remediation plans, and an examination of possible choices [ 80 ].

This study examined the influence of decision making in organizational leadership and management activities that impact creativity, growth and effectiveness, success, and goal accomplishments in current organizations. The author being committed and determined to discovering a pattern of meaning focused on identifying the major factors that influence success in decision making process among organizational leaders through the views and experience of the selected participants in this study.

They indicated the importance and urgent need towards the understanding of how leaders arrive at their choices in their leadership decision making process. To that end the following questions are helpful: Can the mature opportunities fund all the start-up and scaling activities being undertaken? Are there enough or too many early-stage start-ups? Is a core business about to enter a period of decline? While this is directed at organizations, how might you apply this to your own personal life path? How might you keep your personal portfolio in balance and relevant to your world?

For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true. But Riding the Tiger is not about how the Enron-like tragedy occurred, but how a leading through learning strategy calmed the chaos and helped the company recover and rebuild. The Face Game at Zappos. Leading Outside the Lines: Mobilizing the Informal Organization.

Get to the Why by Starting at the Epicenter When beginning or introducing anything—an idea, a project, or a new venture—you need to start with asking yourself why. When you start anything new, there are forces pulling you in a variety of directions. The stuff you have to do is where you should begin. Start at the epicenter. But the first thing you should worry about is the hot dog. The hot dogs are the epicenter. Everything else is secondary. And while details are important, they can distract you, pulling you in the wrong direction or even derail your idea.

You waste time on decisions that are going to change anyway. So ignore the details—for a while. Nail the basics first and worry about the specifics later. He makes the following case for respect: All sorts of people find true fulfillment at work — software developers, recording artists, even auditors. But it is a lot to ask from a job. Others, perhaps most people, hope for work that is reasonably interesting, and indulge their true passions — singing, hiking, wine-tasting — on the weekends.

The best businesses are good at providing a sense of belonging. But belonging can be transient. Businesses succumb to competition and disappear. Or technological innovation makes them redundant. No doubt the photographic darkroom was a companionable place to work; so was a travel agency. There is less need for them now. You can find the complete article on the Financial Times web site. Although he is focusing on the beverage industry, these are trends that will impact many industries. A powerful shift in the epicenter of global economic growth.

Most of this will be in the emerging and developing economies of the world. Rapid urbanization as people move to cities for opportunities. A world wrestling with energy and resource scarcity. In the coming years, as wealth grows and consumer demand increases, we are going to be faced with constant scarcities and cost pressures. Demand for fuel, food and other commodities will expand significantly. This will have long-term cost implications for all of us. In a world of constant cost pressures, it is essential that we achieve a low-cost structure and that productivity is embedded in everything we do.

A reset of consumer attitudes, values and expectations. Consumers worldwide are focused on value. They expect to engage with brands in a dialogue as opposed to a one-way monologue. They do not want to be told what to do. Today's consumers are dictating what they want This is an important trend—and one that threatens to break the traditional distinction between buyer and seller that has been at the cornerstone of modern business and economics. An emerging new era of innovation brought on by these first four trends and fueled by sustainability imperatives.

Most new breakthrough innovations over the next decade will spring from a world radiating economic power from multiple sources New ideas and innovations will originate well beyond the four walls of a company. Innovation will be just as likely to come from customers, suppliers, and consumers. Innovations will be truly global. They will no longer just trickle down from developed to lesser developed nations. They will just as likely originate in emerging nations as well. How will these trends impact you? What Kind of Leadership Will Work in ? The Work Foundation , a British think-tank, released a reaffirming report on the principles of outstanding leadership.

They concluded that outstanding leaders do three things: They think and act systemically: They connect the parts by a guiding sense of purpose. They see people as the route to performance: They not only like and care about people, but have come to understand at a deep level that the capability and engagement of people is how they achieve exceptional performance. They are self-confident without being arrogant: They are highly motivated to achieve excellence and are focused on organisational outcomes, vision and purpose.

But they understand they cannot create performance themselves. Rather, they are conduits to performance through their influence on others. The key tool they have to do this is not systems and processes, but themselves and the ways they interact with and impact on those around them. This sense of self is not ego-driven. It is to serve a goal, creating a combination of humility and self-confidence. This is why they watch themselves carefully and act consistently to achieve excellence through their interactions and through their embodiment of the leadership role.

While these studies are helpful in defining what leaders need to aspire to, what is not so easy is converting these values into daily practice. Meanwhile, the disillusionment and dissatisfaction of those who are led grows. And we do not seem much nearer to establishing a clearer idea of what sort of leadership will work in the cynical and confused world of During the British general election of , the journalist Geoffrey Goodman spent the campaign following the deputy leader of the Labour party, Aneurin Bevan, around the country.

One quotation in particular stands out. It has to be exposed and challenged, generation after generation. Even while we secretly hope for powerful new leaders to emerge. In another highlight from the Work Foundation study, they made this observation about the process of becoming an outstanding leader: Becoming an outstanding leader is likely to depend a great deal on maturity, self-awareness and self-development within the job. Some of the outstanding leaders featured in the research did not originally have a people-focused approach, but realised the impact they were having on people and therefore adjusted their style accordingly.

They arrived at this point through experience, maturity and reflection. They had a very sophisticated understanding of cause and effect and how their actions can dramatically affect outcomes. Thriving In the New Economy. WHY gets to the cause of things. The answer is your purpose or belief.

It explains why you get up in the morning, why should I follow you, why should I buy from you. Your why is what inspires people. Why is vital to leaders. It inspires action through inspiration instead of manipulation. It requires those who believe in something bigger than a single issue. The difference is the why. It is possible to motivate people by external factors like a tempting promotion or fear.

General Motors, for the last 70 years, has been the leader in their industry, but for the most part, did not lead. Great leaders, in contrast, are able to inspire people to act. Those who are able to inspire give people a sense of purpose or belonging that has little to do with any external incentive or benefit to be gained…. Those who are able to inspire will create a following of people—supporters, voters, customers, workers—who act for the good of the whole not because they have to, but because they want to. Whys are hard to communicate.

So we focus on the whats and the hows and over time, the why can get lost. In Start With Why he introduces the Golden Circle to explain loyalty and how to create enough momentum to turn an idea into a social movement. It begins from the inside out. It starts with why. WHATs are easy to identify. They are your products and services. HOWs are the ways you do what you do. WHYs tell people why they should care. Most organizations usually communicate from the outside in—the clearest to the fuzziest.

But not the inspired companies. Not the inspired leaders. Every single one of them, regardless of their size or their industry, thinks, acts and communicates from the inside out. Then communicate it through everything you do. Success comes when you are clear in pursuit of WHY you want it. Warren Buffett on Business. To save the world and still be home for dinner? In other words, big innovation. Sometimes the best way to change the world is to change a diaper. In other words, there are moments of truth everyday — many times — and if we step in do the best thing we can imagine doing in those moments of truth, then we will set up a chain of life that is self-reinforcing, self-motivating, self-fulfilling.

What really matters in industry and in government is individual character. Arun Hampapur began studying the video surveillance systems in New York and Chicago. As Arun saw it, these systems had an inherent problem: They could ingest data, but they could not react to real-world incidents in a timely way. You could only respond to a criminal event once it already happened. Arun and his team came up with algorithms that could identify patterns of suspicious behavior and then instigate a real-time alert. A guy standing around in the subway on a degree day wearing a trench coat and carrying two duffle bags, for example, constituted one pattern.

A white, windowless van circling the block ten times constituted another.

Who told Arun to develop this digital surveillance system? He thought it up on his own. But as for the contribution that Arun Hampapur has made to the well-being of millions of people he will never know—here is truly something of value. Be grounded in a set of values you believe in. And reward the people who look past organizational silos or who rethink existing technologies to come up with smart solutions. Keep your leadership and management roles in balance. You might have to kick them in the fanny.

The hardest days are when you do both. Wild and crazy ideas matter. You can deal with them. You can acquire them. Remember that you are in the ICAF because you already have demonstrated your desire to think huge, to act on your need to make the world a better place.

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If an organization thrives only when you run it, you have not made any intrinsic change. Leave something of yourself behind. Share what you know. The world is ready for a smarter planet. It is begging for strong, smart, value-driven leadership. Disconnecting Horizontally In his excellent analysis of How Rome Fell , historian Adrian Goldsworthy makes some interesting observations about how we tend to disconnect horizontally from anyone or anything outside of our group.

We lose our sense of place and this makes any change so much harder. People resist change when they can't see the bigger picture and why it is necessary. The challenge is to cross our self-imposed boundaries into a world not of our own making and connect to the outside both personally and organizationally. The similarities between these situations were greater than the differences. Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way.

Whatever Happened to the Rugged Individualist? It means being ethical. It means taking the lead in creating sustainable environments for both individuals and the world they live in. Get to know them as people. Know their skills, talents, goals and understand their potential. Ask them for their opinions. Stay engaged with your team members and know where they can benefit from training, mentoring and other forms of development. Think of your team as a community with all of its diversity. Get to know their differences so you can leverage these dynamics.

Show you care enough to listen. Get out and give people your complete attention and listen to what they are saying as well as what they are not saying. Communicate Clearly, Directly, and Honestly. This is one where we all fall short from time to time. Use ordinary words and say what you mean. Encourage other people to share. Practice the Four Cast Member Expectations: Be on the lookout for people who are being excluded for whatever reason and bring them along. Have the courage to do the right thing, encourage your team to do the same and let them know that you have their back when they do.

What Games Do You Play? How to Hit the Ground Running. The Making of a Leader: When the undersea earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit in Indonesia in , the world was stunned by the devastation that took place. It triggered earthquakes around the globe as far away as Alaska. It happened in a very short amount of time. This kind of event takes shape over a period of time and then erupts with incredible force. What happened this past year is similar in that respect -- it'd been brewing for some time. When it hit, it was like a tsunami which caused other economies to start crumbling as well.

We are all familiar with that scenario. What we need to do now is deal with it. The aftermath of a tsunami requires surveying the damage, picking up the pieces and moving on. Some people have bigger losses than others, but everyone has to keep going. When it comes to implosion, it's more of a cave-in than a wipe-out, but equally potent. It's a domino effect.

We won't sink because we can swim, but let's not go the way of dominos. Let's be smart and learn to think for ourselves in positioning ourselves for what comes next. Here are a few survival tips: Pay attention to national and international news and finance coverage at least several times a day, preferably hourly. In volatile times, vigilance is necessary. Absorb, assess, and then act. Knowledge without action is impotence. When a tsunami hits, there's no time for procrastination. Keep your momentum in tune with the times. Avoid your comfort zone -- it's probably outdated anyway.

If you're honest, you should know the questions that should be asked, as well as the answers. That's probably why there's so much confusion out there today. That can put things into perspective. Things may be tough and getting tougher, but we're not being bombed day in and day out either.

The Influence of Decision Making in Organizational Leadership and Management Activities

Is your life half empty or half full? Half is better than zip. Realize that fear is the exact opposite of faith. Resolve to be bigger than your problems. Don't negate your own power. Whatever you've been dealt, know you can deal with it. Think Like a Champion: Lessons From Donald Trump. No one is exempt from the cycles of business. Everyone needs to be on the same page working from the same playbook.

Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog: General Business Archives

The less focused those resources become, the less muscle management can muster to move the company forward or, if necessary, pull it out of a ditch. Probably the most insidious factor. When things go wrong, you just fix them. That is, until the problems spin beyond your control. I was tired of pushing the rock up the mountain like Sisyphus. Ironically, some risk taking is just what is needed.

But what can — and should — replace it? A Need To Reconnect by Justin Baer, Francesco Guerrera and Richard Milne, Financial Times , March 13 Long-held tenets of corporate faith - the pursuit of shareholder value, the use of stock options to motivate employees and a light regulatory touch allied with board oversight of management - are being blamed for the turmoil and look likely to be overhauled.

Today, that focus on the here and now is seen as a root cause of the world's economic predicament. Major change efforts are difficult in the best of times, and many executives worry that a downturn will halt future progress or reverse any gains made to date. Indeed, in a downturn, managers too often scurry from fighting one fire to the next and thereby lose sight of the longer transformation effort. Large-scale change initiatives typically require eight to 10 years to complete and often run out of steam along the way. Downturns provide an ideal opportunity to re-invigorate an ongoing transformation.

Managers can harness a downturn to renew a sense of urgency, justify unpopular decisions and overcome complacency or resistance to change. Finding the right people is becoming a more and more difficult proposition. I enjoyed reading about Linda Zdanowicz's search for a dental assistant on her blog. Tony Wagner , author of the The Global Achievement Gap has written am important book that should not be ignored by business leaders. It sets a meaningful agenda for a good dialogue between educators and business leaders and concerned parents about our educational system.

Wagner has written the following for us: Fixing the Financial Crisis Once and For All Hoping to sound like leaders, Washington lawmakers want to get to the bottom of this financial crisis and create regulations to keep it from ever happening again. Regulation just improves creativity. Greed is regulated by character. Character is built at home, in our schools, in our churches, and yes, in our businesses. Asking what makes human beings unique brings to mind a seemingly endless list of attributes and activities, both positive and negative.

Self-awareness and free moral agency, speech and symbolic cognition, our nimble thumbs, conscience and the capacity to imagine: Two days of panel discussions and question-and-answer opportunities will explore topics ranging from the age-old question of what sets us apart to what the future may hold for humanity. The Increasingly Political Role of Business Recent articles in Foreign Affairs and The McKinsey Quarterly , promote the idea that businesses have a clear responsibility—increasingly a very political one—to the community beyond its shareholders.

Here are some of the informed opinions he presents in the book: Making Your Team Swing. John first heard David speak in Las Vegas and found that neuroscience helped to explained why his business strategies have worked. Five Tests of Obviousness. Are consultants making us insecure? Are we afraid to make decisions for ourselves? According to a recent article in the Guardian even consultants are saying enough is enough. Alastair Clifford-Jones, chief executive of management consultancy Leadent, has identified what he calls "consultancy addiction" - the process by which clients get so hung up on having consultants around that they won't let them go.

Hiring Teams as the Talent Often overlooked in the rush to find that one person that can make a difference in your organization is the context that that superstar worked in. Rarely is an individual great of and by themselves. It usually requires a team of people working together in a great environment to make something great happen. Taking the superstar out of that context can often lead to less than great performance. Thinking of and hiring the team as the talent may be what we should be looking for when trying to hire-in great performance.

In general, there's been a firestorm surrounding executive pay this year. I've generally avoided the topic. I believe in markets—including markets for exec pay. On the other hand, when something looks downright silly Seidenberg is but one of many examples of this magnitude of apparent disjunction between pay and performance. Frankly, I think the impact of mega-corp CEOs on performance is wildly overrated. Looking at the pay scales you'd think the CEO had done all the work of the company single-handedly. But by and large, the boss's impact, while important, is hardly as important as the pay disparity between him and his top lieutenants, let alone the rank and file.

So, I give up. I hereby join the parade of those who say, "Enough. This impairs the performance of both the top management team and the organization as a whole. Robert Sutton, professor of management at Stanford, recently said in an interview that new research is coming out that suggests that the bigger the difference in pay between the CEO and next top three people of that management team, the worse that firm performs. The problem is that is disproportionately more.

But, how should that compensation be determined? Perhaps compensation should be linked to defined earnings performance goals? Should a highly qualified CEO get what the market is willing to pay? Should a wise CEO place a self-imposed cap on their compensation for the good of the organization and the market in general?

Powered by Movable Type 3. Leading Blog Main Page In Create Distinction he discusses how we got here and how we can create distinction for ourselves and our organizations. Having passion, product knowledge and commitment is not enough. Are you creating a distinctive story so that those who chose you the first time will come back for more? Creating distinction is based on four cornerstones: In the years since Create Distinction was published McKain realized there was another place beyond distinction.

Iconic organizations and leaders have become such universal symbols of distinction they are not only irresistible to customers in their marketplace, they compel interest and admiration across a wide spectrum. How do you attain iconic status? How do you maintain and enhance that status once you achieve it? And how do you regain that status if it has eroded in the marketplace? The answers to these questions are explained in detail in this book. Briefly, the process is based on the five factors of iconic performance that take an organization or a leader to a level beyond distinction: Make it special—leave a trail of tangibles.

Get the Promise and Performance Right. People evaluate us on promise and performance. Then invite them to savor the experience that they desire through your product or service. This may seem a bit counterintuitive. It may be holding you back from iconic status. See to have amazed, thrilled, and overjoyed followers. Instead, develop a defensive pessimism. Disrespectful behavior should never be tolerated. McKain recommends six ways: Display open body language. Treat others equally and with sensitivity. Obtaining, maintaining, or regaining iconic status requires brutal honesty.

Think like a start-up. Have an innovative mindset and look at everything you do from a fresh customer-centric focus. Again be sure to examine your culture. Everyone in the organization needs to be on board with providing an excellent experience. By the way, McKain has a great set of five short videos on his Instagram page explaining each of the five factors.

What do the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols have to do with leadership? They say they are going to do something, and then it just gets done. Punk is an attitude. I believe mediocrity occurs far too often because too many people in business, particularly those in middle-management roles, are far too cautious, pessimistic, and more concerned about protecting their jobs rather than striving for greatness and being everything they could be.

They are fearful of putting their heads above the parapet, so they take a play-it-safe attitude and come up with the conservative, tame, and expected proposals. Dale has distilled the punk rock movement to eight elements. These 8 elements of Punk Rock Business were at the heart of punk rock music, movement, attitude, fashion, and culture. Elements that are wanting in many organizations.

A mission statement may not be enough. You may need to create a manifesto to add substance and emotion, creating a story around the mission statement. Punk, more than music, was a mindset, and that attracted people. The followers make the movement. You must get other people on board. Show your commitment to them and the mission by showing up.

This is where you bring your emotional brain and not your rational brain. No one was ambivalent to punk; you loved it or hated it. Punk provided an avenue to express their frustration with the dead-end society that they saw at the time. Never before had music been played so loudly or aggressively. Never before had the lyrics to the songs been so politically charged or laid siege to taboo subjects.

What problem are you trying to solve? Radical ideas come from teams. And when they do they need to be brought to life by showing, not telling. Radical ideas are targets and so need to be protected. The nonnegotiables are so important, because not only do they prevent the willingness to compromise, they also act as the catalyst for intelligent people to seek creative solutions when the inevitable challenges arrive.

Not every decision needs to be correct. You have to say it like it is—but constructively. Sometimes you have to call others out, and sometime you must call yourself out. Speaking plainly saves time, bring clarity, and sets the performance bar where you want to set it. If you are, work out how you are going to stop that immediately … or, alternatively, work out how you are going to justify that to your grandchild in years to come. It was far more important to just give it a go, rather than to get it perfect.

Be the first to volunteer. You will be criticized. Get used to it. More and more employees are disillusioned with lukewarm leadership that makes their jobs dull and boring and constrains their creativity, imposing limitations rather than empowering them. Unfortunately, I have not conveyed in this commentary the great stories that are used throughout to illustrate the 8 Elements of Punk Rock of Business. They are engaging and entertaining and really help to develop the concept. Well worth the read.

The book provides a much-needed perspective on business and leadership in a very unconventional way. As a three-time Super Bowl champion, Michael Lombardi provides lessons in organizational culture, team building, strategy, and character. His philosophies on how to build championship teams were foundational for the teams built by both Walsh and Belichick.

When the advice from the field was negative, however, he invariably ignored it, and got angry if anyone suggested that he was not really being collaborative if he only listened to advice when it confirmed his plans or beliefs. He behaved the same way with his subordinates in the agency, often to the point of screaming at people when they disagreed with him.

The result was that, far from providers feeling included, they felt shut out and cheated by the administrator's actions. He instituted a number of regulations and reforms that didn't work because of his inability to listen to negative feedback, and his relationships with those in the field deteriorated drastically. He continued to tout his willingness to ask for opinions and advice from providers, but was never able either to accept disagreement, or to accept the suggestion that he was anything but completely open and collaborative. Harry Truman made the decision to drop the A-bomb on Hiroshima, and then went to bed and slept all night.

Regardless of what you think about the decision - the human costs were staggering, and historians still dispute whether it saved lives in the long run by eliminating the need for an Allied invasion of Japan - Truman's response to it is instructive. He struggled with the decision itself In addition to character traits that can get in a leader's way, there are the effects of health and personal crises.

The director of a health care organization who was being treated for liver cancer decided to resign because she felt she needed to put all her energy into recovery, and couldn't do justice to her leadership position. The director of a community-based organization continued to work while his wife was being treated for cancer, but found himself making serious mistakes in a variety of situations. Divorce, deaths, personal financial reverses - in short, any of the same personal issues that anyone else might have to face - can beset any leader at any time.

It's important to understand that those kinds of crises will probably have an effect on your leadership, unless you're extremely good at separating the different areas of your life. Again, this list is far from complete, but it includes many of the most common stumbling blocks that leaders throw in front of themselves. Fortunately, there are some strategies that can be used to identify and remove those stumbling blocks, or at least cut them down so you can jump over them more easily.

Account Options

Listen to people's responses to your ideas, plans, and opinions. Listen more than you talk. Listen to a broad range of people, not just to those who agree with you. Probe to find out why they think or feel the way they do. Assume that everyone has something important to say. If you hear the same things from a number of different and diverse sources, you should at least consider the possibility that they're accurate. If they're about things you do that you can change, you might give it a try.

This is feedback people's views of you from everyone around you - staff, volunteers, Board, participants, people from other organizations or groups yours works with - anyone you work with in any way. As with listening, if you hear the same thing from a lot of different sources, it's probably true.

All the feedback in the world won't do you any good unless you do something with it. Are you the center of controversy and chaos? Or do calm and good feeling seem to reside wherever you do? The chances are that the answer lies somewhere in between these extremes, but it probably should be closer to the calm and good feeling side. Even if you're involved in a battle with the forces of evil, you can foster calm in yourself and those you work with.

At the same time, your group could be on top of the world, and you and your colleagues could still be climbing the walls if that's the kind of atmosphere you create. Another question to ask is whether the people you work with are happy and enthusiastic. If you're meeting their needs, the chances are they will be.

If you're insensitive and impatient, if you play favorites, if you're disengaged from them and from the cause, or if you're downright nasty, they'll probably wish they were somewhere else. Taking a look around will tell you a lot about what - and how - you're doing as a leader. Most of us find it difficult to change entirely on our own. A psychotherapist, a good friend, a perceptive colleague, or a trusted clergyman might be able to help you gain perspective on issues that you find hard to face.

Many people find meditation or some form of self-discovery helpful in understanding themselves and in getting through change. Don't feel you have to do it all on your own. The difficulty here is that, if you're defensive, you're likely to be defensive about being defensive. If you're insecure, you may well be insecure about finding help - there's always the chance that you'll find out that your insecurity is well-founded. One of the greatest challenges of leadership is shouldering the responsibility it confers. Part of that responsibility is the responsibility to deal with those aspects of yourself that can keep you from being an effective leader.

That's not easy, but the rewards are great. A leadership position brings with it unique demands. Leaders can be looked on as authority figures, as saviors, as fixers of things that are broken, as spiritual guides, as mentors, as models, as inspirers, as teachers This in itself carries a set of challenges, in addition to those posed by what all leaders indeed have to do in order to keep things going.

Some of the issues that leaders have to cope with specifically because they're leaders are:. Perhaps even more threatening than burnout is "burn-down" - the loss of passion and intensity that can come with familiarity and long service. You may still care about what you're doing, but the enthusiasm just isn't there anymore. In many ways, this condition may be even harder to deal with than burnout.

At least if you're burned out, it's obvious: So how can you continue to be a leader and also continue to be a functioning human being? There are things you can do to retain both your sanity and your competency. Hold occasional meetings and at-least-yearly retreats to discuss vision and renew commitment. These will serve both to review the vision to see if it still resonates and to rework it if necessary , and to renew your and others' purpose and pursuit of it. They'll help to remind you of why you're doing this in the first place, give you an opportunity to work on group solidarity, and - ideally - leave you feeling refreshed and ready to carry on.

Surround yourself with good people who share your vision. If you can find others who are competent and committed to whom you can delegate some of the tasks of leadership, it will both remove pressure from you, and make your group stronger. One of the greatest mistakes a leader can make is to be threatened by others' abilities. In fact, sharing responsibility with capable people makes all of you more effective, and strengthens your leadership.

Having competent people to depend on also means that you can develop systems and know they'll work. Organizational maintenance becomes much easier, and you have more time to devote to the actual pursuit of your vision. Find an individual or group with whom you can discuss the realities of leadership. In many communities, some heads of organizations meet on a regular basis to talk about the difficulties and rewards of their situations with others who truly understand. Some such arrangement can be a valuable hedge against burnout, and can also help you gain insight into how you function as a leader.

It can introduce you to alternative ways of doing things, as well as giving you a chance to vent, and to realize you're not alone. The founder and director of a prominent think tank once went seven years without a day off - including Sundays. That's 2, straight days of work.

That includes two leap year days, for those of you doing the math. Even if that doesn't cause burnout, it's not good for your creativity or your understanding of the world. Everything becomes work or related to work: In order to maintain perspective and to keep yourself fresh, you need to take time away from being a leader, and away from your organization or initiative. It's important to have an activity that gets you away from your daily concerns, and to take days off from time to time.

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